Many drivers find it difficult and troublesome when parking their vehicle in a garage. There have been many attempts to provide an apparatus which will alert a driver to an appropriate vehicle parking location within a garage. The apparatus may be affixed to a ceiling or a rear wall of the garage to provide the alert that may be visual to the driver. One example of a parking assist apparatus for the garage is the use of a ball suspended on a string from the ceiling of the garage. The driver controls the vehicle to enter the garage until a particular location on the windshield of the vehicle contacts the ball. The ball suspended on a string is aesthetically unappealing hanging from the ceiling of the garage. In addition, the ball and string apparatus is designed for one vehicle and may be unstable based on the ease of movement of the ball.
A more technical solution is a communication system and method in which the communication system includes a first communication module and a second communication module. The first communication module is located inside a vehicle and the second communication module is located in a garage door opener and/or a home. A first message of information transmitted wirelessly between the first and second communication modules may be related to status information of the vehicle. A second message of information is transmitted between the first and second communication modules. The second information relates to status information of the garage door opener and/or the home to assist the driver when parking the vehicle in the garage.
In another example, a method and system include the use of a portable communication device to assist a driver controlling a vehicle into or out of a parking space. A vehicle external sensor device is arranged stationary relative to the parking space. The sensor device captures data relating to the vehicle positioned at the parking space and wirelessly emits signals comprising the captured data in such a way that the signals reach the interior of the vehicle via the portable communication device. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,878,646 and 8,810,434.